Edison Sites Minority Community Conservation Efforts to Enable San Onofre Power Plant Restart

Irvine, CA—October7, 2012—In January 2012, Southern California Edison found excessive tube vibration and friction inside the plant’s nearly new steam generators. These generators supply 24% of the energy needs. There was a major concern of how to provide enough energy so as not to experience power shortages. Simultaneously shutting down the plant and increasing the conservation messages to minority communities, SCE was able to avoid power outages during the spring and summer months.

In a recent briefing Veronica Gutierrez, Vice President of Local Public Affairs to SCE said, “The minority community is very responsive to messages of conservation. That combined with the fact that we did not suffer any major fires that could threaten transmission lines, has helped us keep the energy flowing. Without those two things, we would not have been able to supply enough energy.” The San Onofre plant supplies “baseload generation” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Southern California Edison has outlined the safety protocols invoked before and after finding the problems in the plant. “The culture of safety is strong.” Says Gutierrez. “Even the manufacturer of the equipment has been on hand for the inspections and tests.” Over 60,000 inspections have been done on all the equipment to check out every problem. San Onofre is also protected by a sea wall that can withstand a 30-foot Tsunami. SCE takes the running of the plant safely in order to provide reliable and clean energy. More information and public input can be done at www.songscommunity.com